Operation: First Year
by Mr Ilax
Summary: School hasn't started yet and Yang is bored. She remembered Ruby is 17. First years are also 17. Cookies make a good bribe. Maybe it'll be fun to watch?
1. Preparation

**Author's Note: Second Surprise Sunday! Though, I did say this was coming, so is it really a surprise?**

 **Just as an FYI, this story was fueled by garlic bread, Mt. Dew, vodka, and triple sec.**

 **I had this idea tumbling around in my head for a while. During Ruby's third year she would be the same age as new students, what if she was bribed to sneak into initiation.**

* * *

The figure staring out the window gave a deep sigh. Outside of the dorm rooms the sun was trekking across the sky, each trip taking slightly less time than the previous one as Remnant made its way into the fall season. The trees outside already transformed from their normal shades of green to a beautiful wave of yellows, browns, and reds. The slight frost that had built up on the outside of the pane of glass in front of her helped give an otherworldly look to the picturesque view.

 _This is a scene that Weiss would probably kill to see, but I am Yang Xiao Long and I am damn bored!_

Giving a huff that would have put the heiress to shame, the brawler turned around to look at the area around her. Weiss and Blake were gone out to an early lunch. They had invited her to go with them but they went to some fancy restaurant that served things like sannakji and khash and escamole. All of the food there had difficult names and the descriptions that Weiss had given her of some of the food items sent the tall berserker running to the nearest trashcan while retching.

 _Alright, so what is Ruby up to?_

Hearing the telltale scratch of pen on paper, Yang walked across the room to her sister's bunk and looked over the edge to inspect the Brunette.

"Hey Rubes, whatcha up to?"

"Reading" The reaper replied succinctly, trying to discreetly palm her pen to hide it.

The brawler smirked, her sister was trying to hide something.

"Whatcha reading?"

"A book."

The reply the younger sister gave was tense. Her muscles tightened up like an animal who had sensed the presence of a predator and was preparing to flee. Determined to figure out what Ruby was hiding, the brawler began to crawl up onto her sister's bed.

"What book are you reading?"

"It's an old, handwritten weapons journal. It's called a Fechtbuch and Weissgaveittomeanddon'tyoudaretickleme!"

The brunette started to shriek and squirm as the elder sister began to gently dig her fingers into the younger sister's sides. Yang made a grab for the journal as Ruby shoved it under her pillow. The sisters wrestled back and forth for dominance for a short bit before flopping down on the bed. Ruby made sure that she landed on top of her sister.

"Oof." Yang gasped out. "You too big to do this now."

"Nuh-uh you big meanie." Ruby joked, puffing her cheeks out defiantly. "You've had a car land on you before."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right. It's gonna take a lot more than an overgrown puppy to flatten these curves." Yang joked back.

"You're awful."

"I know." Lilac eyes met Silver as the former's owner slowly reached towards the pillow the book was hastily shoved under. "So what were you writing?"

Ruby maintained eye contact with her sister, giving her best puppy dog eyes. "Please don't read it."

Try as she might, Yang felt her resistance melt under the adorable look her little sister was giving her.

"Fiiine." She sighed theatrically, wrapping the brunette in a tight hug. "But I am sooo booored. Come on Rubes, our third year is starting in a few days, I wanna do something fun."

Ruby started to squirm and frantically tap her sister's arm, attempting to wriggle out of the iron grip of Yang's bear hug.

"Need… air…" The reaper gasped out.

"Oops."

Despite Yang's sheepish apology, the brawler only loosened her grip slightly. Seemingly enough to stave off immediate asphyxiation, but the future wasn't looking too promising.

"If you are so bored why didn't you go to lunch with Weiss and Blake? I told you I was going to be studying all day. I wanted to make some adjustments to Crescent Rose before school started again."

"Right, studying." Yang scoffed at her sister. "I didn't realize writing in your diary was considered studying these days."

Finally managing to slip out of her sister's grasp, Ruby rolled to face away from her sister in an attempt to hide her blush of embarrassment.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She muttered.

"Aaanyways," Yang continued, slightly talking over the trail end of her sister's sentence, "As for why I didn't go to lunch with the other girls, have you ever heard of Casu Marzu?"

"No."

"You probably want to keep it that way."

Yang was idle for a little bit, desperately trying to think of something to entertain herself with. An idea came to her. It was a terrible yet awesome idea, but she was going to need help with it.

"Heeey little sis?" Her prompt to her little sister sounded far too suspicious.

The response was a small sigh and short period of silence before Ruby voice hit her ears.

"Yes, Yang?"

"Where is that old combat skirt and cloak you outgrew?"

"They are in the bottom drawer on the right."

"Cool."

Yang rolled off of the bed and landed somewhat gracefully. After she straightened up she pulled out her scroll and sent off a quick message. While waiting for the response she walked over to Ruby's dresser and pulled out the old outfit that no longer fit its owner. The brawler stared at it, envisioning her plan until she heard her scroll ding. Pulling the device out of her pocket she quickly read the reply and smiled.

Setting the red and black outfit down on top of the desk next to Ruby's dresser, she he other side and started opening the drawers on Weiss' dresser.

"Uh, Yang. What're you doing?" Ruby inquired.

"Oh nothing," Yang smiled back briefly before returning to her task. "Just rummaging through your girlfriend's stuff."

 _She makes this too easy,_ Yang thought to herself after she looked back at her sister to observe the bright red face that the younger huntress now wore.

"S-she's not my girlfriend." Ruby managed to sputter out.

"Not yet." Yang corrected. "By the way, neither under your pillow or in your sock drawer are secure places for your diary."

Finishing her sentence with a wink to the brunette, she found what she was looking for.

"Ah-ha! found it" The brawler announced as she pulled out one of the heiress' damage battle dresses.

Quickly grabbing the clothes that she obtained from Ruby's dresser she made her way to the door of their dorm room before her sister could respond.

"Have fun studying sis! I'll be back later"

 _This is gonna be awesome._

* * *

Sitting in a small cafe in the city of a Vale, two girls patiently waited for their food to arrive. After passing the time with idle conversation, their food was delivered. Blake inspected her order very closely before gingerly picking up the toasted tuna sandwich that sat on the plate in front of her. The smell of the food made her mouth water and the feline ears on the top of her head twitch in anticipation. She took a small bit of the sandwich, savoring the flavor as she slowly chewed it.

"Ahem"

The small noise made her realize that her eyes were now closed. She opened them to see two icy orbs fixated on her.

"Enjoying the sandwich are we?" Weiss inquired with a small smirk on her face.

"Yes. Thank you for bringing me here." Blake said back, trying to hide the embarrassment in her voice. "By the way, how did you talk Yang into not joining us?"

"I told her that this place serves fancy unappetizing food." Weiss cracked a rare smile, "I have had my share of disgusting 'foreign delicacies' and figured to put that knowledge to use."

"What did you tell her?"

"Ever heard of Balut?"

"No."

"Keep it that way."

Blake fell silent for short bit and heard Weiss' scroll ding from an incoming message.

The heiress smiled slightly when she looked at her scroll, "Speak of the devil and she doth appear."

"You mean she doth text you," Blake snarked at her teammate, enjoying the playful glare she received in turn as the snow-haired girl sent a return message.

The faunus watched her teammate put her scroll back down on the cafe table.

"What'd she want?" She inquired to her human teammate.

The heiress picked her scroll back up and opened it. Tossing it over to Blake with a slight shrug. "I don't really know, random stuff like always."

Blake stared at the scroll in her hand reading the messages.

* _sup ice queen im working on something can i have ur old combat outfit_ *

* _Punctuation, you brute. Yes, you can have it.*_

Blake stared at the scroll blankly for a few moment before returning it to her teammate.

"Hey Weiss." The faunus started slyly, "I know we just had plans for lunch, but I feel like we should go shopping or something after lunch."

"Why do you say that?"

"Yang is bored, and I don't want to be incriminated in whatever she is up to."

* * *

"I'm baaack!" The excited brawler announced as she barged into the dorm room with a box in her hands.

Her task had taken her most of the day. Frankly, she was hoping that she would complete her task and be able to try to convince Ruby of her plan before meeting with the more boring half of her team. Fate was against her, as she threw open the door she received rather bored and disinterested look from her faunus partner and two squeaks of surprise from her other teammates.

 _Well, atleast I have a contingency plan._

"Keep it down you oaf." Weiss snapped after recovering from being startled, "What have you been up to? We have been looking for you for the last hour."

"Eh-heh" Yang responded, rubbing to back of her neck with her hand.

The slight creak of a bedspring decompressing caused her to shift the gaze of her lilac eyes from Weiss to the direction of the disturbance. Blake was slowly approaching her, lightly sniffing the air. As the faunus got close, the brawler moved the box she was holding to behind her back.

"Yang," The raven-haired girl said lightly, "Why do you smell more like gunpowder than normal?"

"Just a minor accident, no permanent damage though." Yang muttered out with a small chuckle. "but dinner is ready!"

This part was crucial. She wanted to make sure that everyone was in a good mood before she told them her idea. Hopefully the second half of her project today would achieve her goal.

"Dinner?" All three of her teammates inquired simultaneously.

"Yup, The lasagne should be done in a few minutes." The statement was accompanied with the largest goofiest smile that the brawler was to give.

"You brainless barbarian. You left the oven on unattended?" Weiss shrieked in a shrill voice. "Did you thick head forget what happened last time you used the oven."

The memory of what happened last time Yang had tried to make food in the oven jumped forth in each of their heads. None of them ever found out what their yellow teammate was trying to produce, but the end result was an oven that had to be replaced. Ever since then they had made a vow to never let Yang cook without supervision. It was that day when Blake and Weiss found out why Ruby had done the cooking for her family when their dad was out of town for a mission.

"Hey!" Came the indignant reply, "I didn't use the oven. I made the lasagne in the crock-pot."

"Uh…"

Yang ignored her sister's protest as she grabbed the younger girl by the hood and dragged out of the room, down the hall, and into the kitchen.

The lasagna surprised the members of team RWBY. Despite Yang's lack of cooking finesse, the meal was actually properly cooked all the way through. The only objection to be had was the uneven distribution of the ingredients throughout the dish. It was only after they all had dished up and eaten their dinner Yang decided to share her plan with the rest of her teammates. Just as they cleaned the kitchen of the mess the chef had created and made it back to the dorm room she decided to speak up.

"So we all know that Ruby is seventeen now right?" She inquired.

"Yes." The rest replied hesitantly.

"And tomorrow all new the first years arrive right?"

"Yes." The reply had identical words, but the tone that came from the brawler's teammates was saturated with suspicion and worry with a hint of curiosity,

Yang turned and grabbed the box that she had brought into the room right before dinner. With a cheery smile she opened it up and pulled out the item that she had worked on most of the day. In her hands was a copy of Ruby's normal combat outfit and cloak except that it now had white trimming to it. The cloak too was now framed in a white trimming as well. The brawler looked to her little sister for approval. The visage on the brunette was one of surprise and happiness; her silver-eyes were even larger than normal and her mouth hung open.

"So. Cool." The reaper squeaked out.

"Wait a second." The heiress interjected. "What is this for?"

"Eh, I thought it might be fun for Ruby to screw with the new students?" Yang offered, attempting to sound as innocent as possible. "Sound like fun right, Rubes?"

"Yup!" The younger sister stated excitedly.

The heiress huffed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I refuse to be a part of this."

All gazes shifted to the last member of the team who had yet to give an opinion.

"I am just going to watch," The faunus said simply, "at a distance."

 _This is gonna be awesome._

* * *

 **Turns out you can in fact make lasagna in a crock-pot or slow-cooker. It is decidedly delicious.**

 **Uh, don't look up the other foods I mentioned. They are kind of gross.**

 **Also, I was hoping to have this story completed today. That didn't happen. So this will get updated on Tuesday!**


	2. Just a Little Rusty

**Author's Note: And its RWBY Tuesday. Bam! There is you pun right there! Wait? It's actually Wednesday now?**

 ***Crickets***

 **To RedNephilim. You may very well be right. But the cloak on Ruby's alternate outfit is different than the one on her combat outfit. In my head it would make sense that Ruby would have spare cloaks too. After all, heirlooms only last so long against beowolves before they get shredded.**

 **Hope this clears things up for other readers too.  
As for the puns. Yang was supposed to step out for the rest of the story, but we will see what we can do.  
In a few weeks I have a short that will revolve around Yang and Weiss. We will see how many puns we can fit in.**

 **So here is the second part to this story.**

* * *

"Remember, Rubes." The reaper heard her sister call from behind her. "Every hour you're here you get a cookie. The biggest ones we can find."

Ruby happily walked towards the airship dock and daydreamed about which cookies she was going to have Yang get her. There was a cookie shop in Vale that sold cookies that were almost a foot wide and in all different flavors. At least the thoughts of her reward would keep her in a good mood as she was prepared to loiter around the dock until more of the students arrived, then she would walk in with them.

As she made it to the dock, she began to play with the edge of the cloak that Yang had made her. She liked how her older sister had modified her combat outfit. The laced band that wrapped around her midsection was replaced with white cloth from one of Weiss' old outfits. The collar was modified into a shallow v-cut with white trim, and the arms had white lacing stitched into them. Finally, her skirt had been slimmed down and lengthened, and her cloak and hood were hemmed with the white cloth as well.

 _Well, at least I won't be instantly recognizable if I run into any of my old friends from Signal._

She had left her scythe behind in the dorm room under the watchful eye of her partner. Weiss had all but demanded to hold onto Crescent Rose while Ruby was on her little 'adventure' as a form of blackmail. This left the brunette with her pair of bracers that could generate blades to become punch daggers. It was probably for the best. After the events with Cinder, her scythe was probably the most recognizable thing about her. In the time following the battle for Beacon she had noticed a sharp increase in hunters who were incorporating cloaks into their outfits, so hers shouldn't be a giveaway to her identity. Yang had even gone a step further in her preparation for these hyjinx; obtaining both colored contacts and a temporary hair dye for Ruby to use.

Now sporting blue eyes and white hair with red highlights, the younger girl wondered if Yang had any other motivations for her color choices.

 _"Look!" Yang exclaimed delightfully as she held the mirror up to Ruby. "Now you're a 'Weiss' Rose"_

 _"Ugh," Ruby remembered groaning back._

 _"Don't look at me. This is your partner's pun-ishment for not helping."_

Yup, Yang definitely had reasons for her choice. Caught in her ruminations, the former brunette didn't notice that the dock area was starting to fill up with other students who were disembarking from an airship that had just landed. Ruby turned as she tried to shuffle into the crowd and move with the group towards the great hall. She only made it forward one step before she felt something collide with her.

Two years ago, when she first arrived to Beacon, an impact like that would have sent her sprawling to the ground. Now after many growth spurts and two years of intensive training with her heavy scythe and strength workouts with Yang meant that she was now probably stronger than any of the new first years. Ruby turned to see a scraggly brunette boy laying sprawled out on the ground. He was wearing dull reddish-brown robes and seemed to be a holding a collapsible staff in in his hands. Laying on the ground next to him were a couple of vials of dust.

 _Oh no! Not again!_

Ruby rapidly stepped backwards, using her hand to plug her nose in order to guarantee that she wouldn't accidentally explode.

"Are you ok?" Ruby asked tentatively, her voice a little nasally due to her pinched nose.

"Yeah." The boy responded after a brief moment.

He clambered to his feet and brushed himself off before picking up each vial of dust that he dropped. After he was satisfied that none of the containers were cracked or unsealed, he stepped forward towards Ruby and held his hand out.

"My name is Ferrum, Ferrum Rovell." The boy stated with a large and somewhat goofy smile. "What's your name?"

 _Yang's advice sounded in her head. "Just tell them your name is Yin Xiao Long"_

"Hi! My name is Y… Nope, can't do it. Sorry!" She squeaked out and turned to run away.

Just as she started to move she remembered that she wasn't supposed to use her semblance. Nearly tripping, she felt a hand lightly grab her upper arm, steadying her and causing her to turn back towards the boy she was just talking to.

"A-are you ok?" He asked curiously. "I didn't do anything to freak you out, did I?"

"N-no... " Ruby mumbled out, "I am just awful with the whole people thing. I kinda like meeting people's weapons."

"Well, I have this." The boy said simply. He held out the weapon in his hand as it extended into a full length staff. "It's not too complex, mainly for defense. I am also a dust caster."

"Ooh." Ruby looked at the staff in awe. "The mechanisms in that seem to be pretty well designed."

"So." The boy started, collapsing the staff and putting it in its holster. "What do you have?"

"Just these." Ruby held up her hands, activating the gauntlets that Weiss help her make and creating glass blades. "I'm a brawler."

It was just a little lie, but it still bothered her.

"So, you never did tell me your name."

Oh, uh…" She paused as she tried to come up with an answer. "My name is Crimson. Come on, let's get to the great hall."

* * *

Little did Ruby know, but she was being watched at a distance. Yang followed their leader's progress with binoculars while Weiss and Blake were sitting somewhere behind her. She knew Blake was probably sitting against a tree reading her book and eating one of the tuna sandwiches she had packed for their teams outing. Stealing a glance behind her to see what the heiress was doing, she saw Weiss sitting nearby holding onto Ruby's scythe and cloak, seemingly disengaged from Yang's activity.

"You know." Yang began speaking in a slight mocking tone. "For not caring, you sure are holding onto her scythe and cloak rather tightly."

Weiss started suddenly as if she had been lost in her thoughts.

Glaring slightly at the brawler, she replied back snippily "She entrusted them to me. What kind of partner would I be if I didn't take care of them?"

Yang laughed. "You could have left them in the room."

"She loves these too much." The heiress protested. "I can't risk anything happening to them."

"Uh-huh." The taller girl snarked back. "Can you at least stop sniffing her cloak? It's kinda creeping me out."

Weiss opened her mouth, looking like she was going to speak. Instead, her face slowly turned from its normal pale color to a bright red that could match the cloak she was clutching. Finally, the girl managed to snap her mouth shut and turn her head away in an attempt to save dignity.

Yang returned to her previous task of watching her sister through binoculars. Her target loitered around the docks before inadvertently collided with one of the new students, knocking him to the ground and sending vials of dusts skittering across the ground.

"Whoa, looks like she ran into another person carrying way too much dust." Yang chuckled at her idea. "I really hope she doesn't bring home another Ice Queen."

"I'll have you know, I do not carry too much dust... And she is free to be friends with whomever she pleases."

The heiress' voice sounded indignant.

This is more fun than I thought it would be.

Peeking back through the binoculars, she saw that the boy was now standing up with a huge goofy grin on his face. Time for a little more fun with the Ice Queen.

"Uh-oh, Weiss. Looks like you have a little competition. That guy is totally hitting on Ruby."

"Doesn't he realize she's totally out of his league." Weiss snapped back in a surprisingly angry tone.

"Oh yeah? And who's league is she in exactly?" Chuckling, the brawler decided to press her advantage. "And sticking with the sports metaphors, I wonder if he realizes they are batting for the same team."

The silence that permeated the area was golden. Yang was sure that if Blake hadn't started to chuckle softly, she could probably have heard Weiss' brain straining to process what was just said. Finally the snowy-haired girl spoke.

"Wait... What?"

"No time to explain." Yang sang out. "Looks like Rubes is starting to get a little flustered. And she tripp… Oh."

She heard the heiress shift on the ground behind her.

"And now he just saved poor little Ruby." Instead of turning to see her teammates reaction she kept watching through the binoculars. "She must be swooning all over him in her 'oh so subtle and not painfully awkward' manner."

"Th-that jerk! Who does he think he is?! She's my dolt!..." Weiss's face turned bright red when she realized what she said. "I mean, my partner! And I'm supposed to save her because I promised to be the best partner... Stop laughing at me!"

Yang couldn't contain herself anymore, and the fencer's protest only made the situation ever more entertaining.

"I am trying to read here." Blake stated in her normal monotone. "Please keep it down."

The brawler bit down on part of her scarf to help control her giggles. What she saw happen next was just too good to pass up on.

"Oh no." She managed to get out between giggles.

"What is it this time?"

"I'm sorry Weiss, I think you lost her."

"What?!" The heiress voice came out in a high pitch shrill tone that was almost imperceptible to those with human ears.

"He just…" Yang couldn't help but start laughing again.

Feeling a smack to her shoulder as her white-themed teammate crawled over to sit beside her. "He just pulled out his staff and extended it in front of your girlfriend. She is drooling all over it."

"She's not my girlfriend!" She yelled right reflexively in the brawler's ear before she processed the rest of the sentence. "I thought she wouldn't like staffs." She continued haughtily turning her nose up. "As you said, she bats for the other team."

"Puh-lease, you hide things almost as poorly as Ruby... Did you just make a lewd joke?" Yang's mouth dropped open. "Weiss Schnee, we may make a proper woman out of you yet."

"I'm as proper as they come, brute."

"Well," She said, setting the binoculars down and turning her body so she was now facing her two teammates. "It looks like she went into the great hall," She glanced quickly at the heiress before finishing, "with the boy."

"Ugh, you barbarian! Why did you need to talk Ruby into doing this!"

"Oh, come on, Snowflake." Yang said simply as she picked up one of the tuna sandwiches that Blake had prepared for them. "This is the perfect oppor-tuna-ty for Ruby to make friends."

"I hate you." Both of her teammates stated simultaneously.

* * *

Ruby stepped into the hall with her new friend.

"Hey, Crimson." He started. "I see some of my friends over there. Do you want to meet them?"

"Uh, sure." She squeaked in surprise as he reached towards.

Ferrum snatched her hand and pulled her in the direction of his friends, eliciting a loud 'eep' from the reaper. While she was used to dragging or being dragged by the hand somewhere with her sister or Blake, and occasionally Weiss, this was different. It felt weird. She didn't resist, figuring that once they got to Ferrum's friends he would relinquish his grip on her hand. He didn't.

 _He must just be really friendly. He is probably a hugger too. Oh! He should meet Yang, I am sure they would get along._

Ruby got her hand back when she stepped forward to shake hands with all of the caster's friends. She knew she wouldn't remember all of their names but it didn't matter. She would be leaving soon to rejoin her teammates and get her reward of cookies.

Before she could try to slip off she heard a voice over the speakers.

"I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

 _Does he really give the same speech every year?_

After Glynda finished giving directions to the new students and dispersing them towards the sleeping areas, Ferrum started to follow his friends off, beckoning Ruby to join them. Ruby started to follow before she caught Professor Ozpin's eye. He was waving her over.

 _Whew, at least I got caught. Now I can get out of here._

"Hey Ferrum," She called over to her new friend. "I'll catch up to you in a second. I need to speak with Ozpin."

"Ok." The boy looked slightly deflated. "See you soon."

Ruby made her way up to where Ozpin was standing. As she approached she saw him whisper something in Glynda's ear that caused her to roll her eyes and march off. The man looked at her carefully before pushing his glass up on the bridge of his nose, temporarily fighting the effects that gravity was having them.

"Hello, Miss…" He started in a questioning tone.

"Branwen, Crimson Branwen." Ruby replied, finally having decided to use her Uncle's surname.

"Well Miss Branwen, I hope you have a good evening." He paused as Glynda came walking back with a backpack in her hand.

He accepted it before handing it to Ruby. "I think you'll need this for this evening."

"Uh, th-thanks Professor Ozpin." She stuttered out in surprise.

"Oh, don't thank me yet."

With that statement, he and Glynda turned and walked towards the exit of the hall.

Ruby decided to satiate her curiosity and looked in the backpack. Inside was her pajamas and beowolf sleeping mask, as well as a small bag of toiletries and her sleeping bag.

 _Yang… You will pay for this._

* * *

 **The Ozluminati knows.**

 **Hrgrk... I wanted this done. But I guess there will be a third part.**

 **I really want to thank XenonRaumzeit for helping me write the middle scene where Yang is spying on Ruby and teasing Weiss.**


	3. Failing at Failing

**Author's Note: Here is chapter 3! And this turned out longer (and better) than I thought.**

 **So, some OCs here. But... come on, I don't know how I could have written this story without them. More importantly, let me know how I implemented them in the story. Are they in here too heavy? Do they help plot progression. Do you hate them?**

 **Have fun reading, and I don't like to ask, but leave a review or PM me. I am still trying to find my feet as a writer and your input helps.**

* * *

Ferrum Rovell took a deep breath as he watched the main tower of Beacon Academy grow larger as the airship continued its final approach to its destination. This was it. This was the day he was going to start on his path to becoming a huntsman. It was too exciting. Throughout his time in primary combat school he had always kept tabs on the most famous huntsmen and huntresses, and knew all of their alma maters. But it wasn't just full-fledged hunters he paid attention to. Cinder's attack on Beacon and the subsequent events had brought renown to the exceptionally skilled teams of hunters-in-training that attending school there. To be able to shake Jaune Arc's hand, or get dust casting tips from Weiss Schnee, or even get Coco Adel to help him pick out a new wardrobe. That would just be life changing.

The boy broke from his thoughts and glanced around. He enjoyed the thought of what a being a huntsmen meant, even if it meant wearing somewhat abnormal clothing. After all, a huntsman has to have his image and your weapon and outfit are more memorable than a name. Looking out the window near him was a girl wearing a blue, sleeveless cheongsam with slits up both sides, detached butterfly sleeves, and gold, knee-high laced sandals. She topped it off with rainbow colored hair and a giant axe strapped to her back.

 _Well, I guess that some have more eclectic appearances than other._

As the airship docked at the Beacon courtyard, he made sure that he was one the first people off. He wanted to see the sights as soon as possible. In his eagerness, he failed to pay attention. Colliding with a rather solid object, he was sent sprawling to the ground, scattering his vials of dust everywhere. After he checked himself to make sure he hadn't broken anything he looked at the object that he hit. Before him stood a fairly tall girl with white hair dyed with red tips and ice blue eyes. She was wearing a red, white, and black corset and combat skirt with a red and white cape draped over it. It almost looked like Weiss and Ruby from team RWBY decided to merge bodies.

As he continued to inspect the girl standing above him he noticed that she was leaning back slightly while one of her hand plugged her nose.

"Are you ok?"

Her voice was understandable nasally, but beneath the distorted tones her voice was still sweet and bubbly. He realized that he was staring.

"Yeah." He said quickly before standing up and running his hand through his short brown hair.

Realizing he was beginning to stare again, he quickly bent down to retrieve the copious amounts of dust he had dropped when he was knocked askew. Once he had picked them up he stepped forward and extended his hand.

"My name is Ferrum, Ferrum Rovell." He tried his best to give what he hoped wasn't a creepy smile. "What's your name?"

The only response she got from the white-haired girl was a series of squeaks before she attempted to walk away. Before she could take the first step away from him, she seemingly tripped on her own feet and started to fall. He managed to jump forward and grab her arm before she toppled too far. When he made contact with her arm he felt her muscles tense up, she had a surprisingly muscular physique.

 _Cute, klutzy, and strong. Of course this would be the person I would creep out first._

He quickly released her as she turned back around to face him.

"A-are you ok?" He mumbled out, trying not to exasperate the situation. "I didn't do anything to freak you out, did I?"

The girl hastily explained back that she just felt uncomfortable around other people and enjoyed meeting people through their weapons instead. After both parties had the chance to produce and demonstrate their weapons, Ferrum came to a realization.

"So, you never did tell me your name."

"Oh, uh… My name is Crimson." Crimson beckoned him and started walking towards the tower. "Come on, let's get to the great hall.

The trip over to the great hall was quick. Ferrum followed behind Crimson lost in his thoughts. He kept his eye out for other students. He thought he saw Fox and Yatsuhashi at a distance, but they disappeared before he could run over to talk to them. He was longed to meet many of the heroes that attended school here.

As he entered the massive room he took account of all the students that were loitering around. Peering through the crowd he noticed a shorter girl, who appeared to be a ferret faunus, trip over her own feet. The rainbow-haired girl that he had seen on the airship was walking behind her and bent over attempting to help up a much shorter girl up off the floor.

 _They must be friends. Speaking of which, where are mine?_

Continuing to glance through the crowd he finally found them gathered near the stage that had a singular microphone and stand sitting on it. He turned towards Crimson to address her.

"Hey, Crimson." He called her name to further focus her attention "I see some of my friends over there. Do you want to meet them?"

"Uh, sure." She said simply, looking a bit solemn.

The look reminded him about what she had said earlier with not dealing with new people too well. Deciding to try to keep the meeting with his friends short, he reached out and grabbed her hand, eagerly pulling her to where his friends were grouped. As soon as his hand made contact he heard her squeak in surprise. Her subsequent willingness to follow him and not try to pull her hand free quelled the worry that started to take root in his stomach. As they got close to his group of friends, he could have sworn she mumbled something about cookies.

 _Time to show off my new friend, they're gonna be so jealous._

Ferrum greeted his friends warmly and proceeded to introduce his friends in turn, reluctantly releasing his grip on Crimson's hand so she could greet each person accordingly. Once they were done with salutations the brunet looked at the cloaked girl expectantly, but she already crossed her arms was shirking away from the conversation. Before he could reach out to comfort her the headmaster began speaking through the microphone.

After Ozpin and Glynda finished their speech, the dust caster turned and tapped his new friend on her shoulder so she wouldn't be left behind as students started to filter out of the hall and make their way towards the cafeteria for dinner.

"Hey, Ferrum." Crimson started talking as she turned to face him. "I'll catch up to you in a second. I need to speak with Ozpin."

 _Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?_

* * *

Ruby left the hall and headed towards the cafeteria where the first year students would be gathering for the evening meal before turning in. Readjusting the bag on her shoulder, she began to wonder how Yang managed to convince Ozpin to go along with her joke. There is no way Ozpin didn't either recognize her, or the surname that she used. Plus the items that were in the bag did belong to her. Now, instead of being able to leave, she was consigned to stay the night with the first year students.

 _Unless I can get myself kicked out. I wonder if Yang will have any ideas._

As Ruby walked towards the dining hall she pulled out her scroll to both scold her older sister and implore for assistance.

 _*Yang, youre so dead.*_

The reaper didn't have to wait long before here scroll vibrated, bringing her a response that was

 _^Waaaat^_

 _*Im stuck here for the evening because of you.*_

 _^U knew wat u were getting into^_

She gave a slight growl while she continued on her journey towards food.

 _*Any ideas how to get kicked out?*_

 _^food fight^_

 _^prof goodwitch didnt like that^_

 _*You owe me sooo many cookies.*_

 _^But u only get them if u get kicked out^_

Sighing and storing her scroll in one of the many compartments on her belt she looked up to see the doors to the cafeteria in front of her. This was going to be where she was the most likely to be recognized by one of her fellow students. Even though part of the the section was cordoned off for the initiates use, older students were still allowed access to the cafeteria. Though older students technically were not allowed to interact with the prospective students, altercations do happen. Yang herself had to punch a second year student who decided to take his chances to try to flirt with the blonde during their own initiation.

Pushing one of the giant doors open she entered the building. Pulling her hood over her head she made her way to the back of the cafeteria, grabbing a tray of food and observing her options before her.

 _Ok, what would make good ammunition?_

Making two distinctive piles on her plate, Ruby made sure to grab items that she could quickly consume before trying to enact her plan. The other pile contained grapes, mashed potatoes, and some sort of processed meat product. After filing her tray, the reaper turned to try to locate any friendly faces. Spying Ferrum and his friends grouped at one of the tables, she quickly made her way over.

As the former brunette approached the table, she saw her new friend whisper into the ear of the boy next him. The boy got up and moved to the other side of the table, leaving an open seat next to Ferrum.

 _What was his name? Choir something? Chai… Tea? No that seems wrong. Chairo? Ah, that's it._

"Thank you, Chairo." Ruby said cheerfully to the boy before focusing on her food pile that she intended to eat.

Eating her fill as rapidly as possible, she managed to avoid joining in the with the conversations at the table by always having her mouth full of food. Once she felt full, she started to nervously push around the remaining food on her tray, trying to prepare for what was to come. Before she could psyche herself up she felt a nudge on her shoulder.

"Hey, look over there Crimson." Ferrum urged her, pointing over her shoulder. "It's team JNPR!."

"Hmmm…" Ruby responded, following the boy's pointing finger.

She saw Pyrrha walk in followed by Ren and Nora. The redhead seemed to be clinging tightly to her partner's arm in a rather intimate manner defying her the immense quantity of times the girl claimed that the two weren't 'together-together'. Finally, Jaune walked in at the rear of the group, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Ugh." The dust caster pouted. "I wish were allowed to talk to students. I want to go meet Jaune. Did you know during his initiation he killed a deathstalker? So cool!" His voice at the end of the sentence finished in a rather unmanly squee.

"I-I didn't know that." Ruby retorted. "I guess he seems ok."

"Oh, come on Crimson." Ferrum prodded back. "You would totally date him if you had the chance."

"Ew." She responded, maybe a little too rapidly.

"Really?" The boy said while leaning a little closer to her. It was even starting to invade her rather small personal space. "Why not?"

"Too… tall, blond, and scraggly." Ruby offered, trying to deflect the conversation.

The brunet sitting next to her seemed pleased with her answer and continued to watch team JNPR as they walked to obtain their meals.

 _Alright, time to get out of this awkward conversation and get kicked out of here._

Taking her spoon she dug into the pile of mashed potatoes and glanced around to find a suitable target. Seeing a small ferret faunus wearing white BDU pants and a black midriff tank top seemed to make a perfect target. Checking on her companions at her table she confirmed that they were engrossed in their own conversations and not paying heed to her actions. Picking up a pile of mashed potatoes with the spoon, she flicked some at her intended target. Ruby grew tense as she watched the food fly through the air when suddenly it stopped and hovered in place.

 _Crap._

"Miss Branwen." Professor Goodwitch's voice called behind her as the younger woman heard heels clicking angrily on the floor as the older woman approached. "Please refrain from playing with your food."

Ruby groaned and face-planted on the table. This was going to be harder than expected. Noting that her companions were just about finished, she started to make herself ready for the trip back to back to hall where they would be spending the night. Before she could stand up her scroll vibrated in her pocket, it was from Yang.

 _^gotcha a present its on the top of the door^_

"Ugh…" She groaned again, Yang better have left her a cookie.

"You ok?" Ruby looked to the sound of the voice to see Ferrum staring at her with worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The reaper responded with renewed energy and a wide smile. "Just frustrated with my sister."

"You have a sister?" The boy looked surprised. "Does she look like you?"

"Naw," She said dismissively. "We look nothing alike. She actually goes to school here though, you should meet her sometime."

"Maybe." His response seemed to temporarily put him in a pensive mood. The rush of students walking past him seemed to snap him out of it.

"Come on." Ferrum said, grabbing her hand again and pulling her along. "We don't want all the good sleeping spots to be taken."

* * *

After reaching the sleeping hall Ferrum paused in his endeavors, allowing Ruby to pull her hand free.

 _Finally… Jeez, I really need to apologize to Blake and Weiss for dragging them around everywhere._

After a brief conversation, the brunet and his friends decided to move to the back corner near one of the windows, beckoning Ruby to follow them. She acquiesced and followed them, but made sure that her sleeping bag was kept at a decent distance away. After placing her bag she lifted her gaze and saw Ferrum dragging his bag over to where she was. Luckily before he could close the gap Ruby felt a third person approach her from behind.

"Hey, Red." The newcomer said in a chipper tone. "Is this spot available?"

The cloaked girl turned to face the stranger. Standing before her was a taller girl with in blue and gold garb and lose rainbow colored hair that reached her mid back. She was pointing to the open space between her and a very crestfallen Ferrum.

"Yes!" Ruby squeaked out.

"Perfect." The newcomer said as she laid her sleeping bag between Ruby and the encroaching boy.

 _Thank goodness. Two years and I still don't feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as a boy. Ferrum is cool and all, but I don't want to keep his attention away from his friends._

"Sorry to get between you and Rusty over there, but I wanted to be near a window. My name is Rain Loks." The newcomer continued with a warm smile on her face as she extended her hand . "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss…?"

"Branwen, Crimson Branwen." Ruby stated as she reached out to shake the other girl's hand.

She was surprised when Rain didn't release her hand, instead pulling her into a rather warm hug and whispered into her ear. "Hey, those contacts will be uncomfortable to sleep in. Won't they, Ruby?."

"What?" Ruby reflexively tried to jerk back, but the arms holding her were too strong.

"Don't worry, I won't tell them anything."

"How did you know?"

"Qrow Branwen once guest lectured at my combat school a couple years ago. I ended up talking to him for awhile afterwards. He's quite proud of you, you know." Rain explained cheerfully, releasing the reaper from the hug before she could ask anymore questions.

Ruby cast her eyes across the room to see what all of the initiates were up to. As her gaze raked across the door they entered from she saw an unusual shadow being cast from the protruding stonework that made up the frame. Remembering Yang's text message, she got up to go inspect the doorway. To her chagrin, she realized that the bag was considerably above her reach; she wasn't going to reach it unless she had help from someone. On one hand, she felt too embarrassed to ask someone for help, but on the other, she really wanted whatever her sister had left for her in the bag.

"What're you looking at?" The chipper tone behind her caused her to jump.

"Oh, hey Rain." Ruby responded without looking. "My sis left me something in a bag up on the doorframe."

"Ah, hmmm…" The rainbow-haired girl responded thoughtfully. "It's too high for me to boost you up there without throwing you. That can be 'Plan B', but I would prefer not to." Her eyes swept the room for inspiration. "Oh, I know."

The taller girl dashed over to a nearby initiate and seemed to be conversing with him in the same jubilant manner that she had maintained with Ruby. The boy that she was talking too was enormous, he looked like he was almost seven feet tall. After a few moments Ruby saw the tall boy nod slightly and the two of them rejoined Ruby by the door.

"This little guy here offered to help you!" Rain announced when she got close, sweeping her arms excitedly to the boy next to her.

"Please, call me Thyme." The boy growled in a low tone, barely opening his mouth as he spoke.

"Nice to meetcha, Thyme." Ruby offered her hand to the newcomer, which he then briefly clasped in his own hand. "How do you want to do thi- whoa!"

Ruby issued a small exclamation as the boy unexpectedly hoisted her in the air and stood her on his shoulders. Once she was stable she reached up onto the doorframe and grabbed the bag.

"Ok!" She squeaked. "Put me back down."

Thyme obliged, gently setting her down gently.

"Thank you, dear." Rain said to the giant before he turned to walk back to where his sleeping bag was.

Ruby watched briefly as Thyme walked away. He only got a few meters before he was accosted by the same ferret faunus that she had tried to throw the mashed potatoes at earlier.

"Hey!" The girl said in an annoyed manner, pulling on the other initiates sleeve. "Why didn't you let me sit on your shoulders earlier?"

"Because, Sange." He growled back as he continued on his path. "You didn't ask nicely."

The small girl started to pout as she proceeded to follow him away from Ruby and Rain.

Rain, in turn, grabbed Ruby's hand to drag her back to their own sleeping area.

 _Hmmm… She's almost motherly. I'm almost glad that Yang made me do this now, I may get some worthwhile friends out of this._

Once they got back and sat down, Ferrum crawled over to join them.

"What's in the bag, Crimson?" He asked.

That was a good question.

"I don't know." Ruby responded as she started to dig through the bag.

The top layer of items in the bag mundane, just some bottles of water and snack foods. There was a bundle of napkins under it. Digging deeper she found what she was looking for. When she pulled out the small box of store bought chocolate chip cookies her mouth began water in anticipation. Her joy was cut short as she noticed a small typed note attached to the box.

[Make sure you share with your new boyfriend! -Love, Big Sis]

Noticing Rain peering over her shoulder Ruby squeaked in embarrassment and shoved box back into the bag as quick as she could manage while her face turned a bright cherry red.

"What's wrong?" The brunet inquired in earnest.

"Ooh, I wouldn't worry about it." Rain sang out, trying to deflect attention away from her new friend.

The taller girl dug through the bag and pulled out one of the packages of snack food and tossed it to the boy, giving Ruby more time to recover. Once the boy was distracted by his newfound prize, Rain took the note out and shredded it, placing the scraps in her pocket. Ruby looked to her friend and mouthed 'thank you', receiving a warm smile in return.

Opening up the package of cookies, Ruby started munching on them while she continued to dig to the bottom of the bag. What she found at the bottom of the bag surprised her and inspired her next actions. Quickly standing, she pulled the soccer ball out of the bag and bounced it on the floor.

The sound of the ball impacting the floor drew the attention of all nearby students. Ruby decided the best course of action was to try to draw as many students into a game as possible. The larger the ruckus she caused the more likely she was to get kicked out of the hall. Holding the ball in front of her, she stepped forward and dropped it, punting it across the hall. Or at least she tried. After the ball had reached the apex of its flight it froze in midair.

 _Double crap._

The heels clicking behind her were further confirmation at what just happened.

 _I really need to look around before trying to start these things._

"Miss Branwen." Glynda started, her frustration was evident. She took a breath before giving an indignant huff and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Please do not rile the other students up. All of you have a long day ahead of you, and need to be well rested for your initiation trials tomorrow."

 _She just isn't going to let me go._

Ruby gave her own huff as her professor walked away, pulling the ball from its position in the air to her hand. Looking at Ferrum and Rain she shrugged.

"May as well turn in." She suggested. "I will see you all bright and early."

With that the three of them crawled into their respective sleeping bags and fell asleep after a few moments.

* * *

While being woken up by the sun would have been ideal, Ruby was woken up by various alarms going off from multiple points throughout the hall.

 _Ugh… I forgot the 'early risers' who woke us up on our initiation day too._

Grumbling audibly, the reaper sat up and rubbed her eyes. Looking over as to where her companions were sleeping, she saw Ferrum still snoozing but Rain was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning!" Said a voice somewhere near her head.

Twisting around, Ruby saw her rainbow-haired friend sitting against the wall reading a book by the early morning light streaming through the window.

"Mmrrmmm… Morning…" The reaper mumbled out.

"What do you say that we go get some food?" The other girl asked.

Between getting food and getting dressed, the morning passed quickly. Before she knew it Ruby found herself swept up in a group of initiates headed towards the locker room. She took the chance to store her bags in her locker and pick up her glass bracers. Just after she closed her locker she heard an announcement over the PA calling all first years to the cliffs. Watching the prospective students filter out of the locker room, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was going to be able to go back to her room now. The heels clicking on the floor behind her were soon going to prove how wrong she was.

"Miss Branwen, we are expecting you at the cliffs." Professor Goodwitch commanded before Ruby could turn around. "Off you go."

Ruby didn't have a choice but to make her way to the cliff as Glynda followed behind her.

When she reached the cliffs she saw Rain and Ferrum lined up standing on the platforms, listening to Ozpin's speech about their objective and how they were going to find their partner for the rest of the school year. When he was done, both Ferrum and Rain both looked over to Ruby and waved. Returning the wave, the reaper stood on the launch pad at the very end of the line.

Ruby patiently waiting as she heard the platform spring into action and launch the students in various directions over the forest. When the last student was launched next to her, Ruby braced herself, but the launch never happened. Looking up at Ozpin, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was fun." She said sheepishly to her two professors and tried to step off of the platform.

There was a problem though. Try as she might, she couldn't move her legs to move away from the launch area. Eyes widening, she brought her focus onto Goodwitch. The older woman had her riding crop out and it was pointed at her. It was obvious that the professor was using her semblance to keep the girl in place. This couldn't be good.

"Oh, it isn't over yet Miss _Branwen_." Ozpin stated placing emphasis on her fake surname. "I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page. You are part of this initiation now. You will be paired with the first person you make eye contact with in the forest, you will bring a relic back, and your position here will be regarded based off of the relic you pick. I wish you luck."

Before Ruby could react to what just happened the platform beneath her feet activated, launching her over the trees.

* * *

 **Oh, no!**

 **or**

 **Mwuahahaha!**

 **Take your pick.**

 **Fourth and final chapter will be coming sometime this month.**


	4. Ooh, Shiny

**Author's Note: And here is the last chapter of the story. A week late, but Tax Season has been really eliminating my free time.**

 **OC's abound. You know, they are first years after all. Ruby still has the main PoV though for most of it. You've been warned.**

 **Hope you all have fun!**

* * *

 _Well, triple crap._

She really had stepped into it real deep this time. Ruby tried to gather her thoughts as the air rushed past her.

 _Land first, then figure out what to do._

The cloaked girl observe the forest below her. Without her trademark scythe she was going to have to use a different landing strategy than what she used two years ago. She had become too reliant on a weapon that could slow her fall for her. The solution ended up being easier to come up with than she originally thought; she was just going to have to get really fancy with her semblance.

Once she got below the treeline and out of sight of any possible observers she activated her semblance, wrapping her cloak around her and spinning through the air. The slight upward angle she gave herself stopped her descent but didn't slow her total speed. Reorienting herself so she was facing the trunk of a thick tree she activated her semblance again, changing her direction in midair. After her boots made contact with it became a simple of jumping between a few more trees before landing on the ground in a low crouch with her cloak fluttering behind her.

 _That would have looked cool if someone was watching. I totally should have asked Yang to let me borrow her sunglasses._

That thought elicited a small groan, maybe she let Yang have too much of an influence on her. At least she didn't do something lame, like utter a one-liner.

Now that Ruby was safely on the ground she could have a moment to contemplate her next actions. The first thing that was obvious was the fact that she was going to have to avoid contact with other students, less she accidentally screw over one of the real initiates. If she could make it to the end of the initiation trials without finding a partner her problems would become a lot simpler. As for what she could do about having to choose a relic, she didn't know. She would have to cross that bridge when she got there. Judging by the rustling in the bush beside her, she was probably fairly close to failing her first goal.

A black mass leapt at her from the undergrowth causing her to breath a sigh of relief for two reasons. The first reason was that it wasn't another person, that meant that she wasn't going to be unwittingly ruin her or another student's time at the school. The second reason was that the pouncing grimm was a very young beowolf. Not even bothering to activate the blades on her gauntlets, the reaper stepped towards her aggressor and struck it in the center of its mask with her fist. A sharp crack was heard as its mask shattered to pieces followed by the went crunch of its skull caving in.

Ruby pulled her hand out the beowolf's head and watched the ichor slowly evaporate off of her skin. One of the 'benefits' of grimm physiology. The fact that they started to disperse after being killed meant that there was considerably less laundry and weapon maintenance that needed to be done than if they were real animals. As an added bonus, you always knew when a grimm was actually dead versus only being maimed or wounded.

Attempting to be more vigilant, the cloaked girl started to carefully make her way in the direction of the temple that held her objective. Her heavy footfalls made her lament the fact that she hadn't paid attention to the times that Blake had tried to teach to move more stealthily. Ruby started pausing at intervals to observe her surroundings. When she paused after fifteen minutes of trekking through the woods she made an extended stop to ensure that she was headed in the right direction. Something seemed out of place. She noticed an absence of birds chirping or small vermin dashing around. Normally that was the sign that a predatory animal was stalking in the immediate vicinity. Before she could recognize what was going on, something plowed into her from behind, sending her sprawling to the forest floor. Ruby attempting to roll out of the impact on the forest floor but her unknown attacker held her in a vice grip, refusing to be shaken off.

Noticing the lack of teeth or claws trying to penetrate her aura, Ruby quickly switched from trying to retaliate to attempting to free herself from whatever had a hold of her. Grasping at the appendages that encircled her she noticed one very important thing, they were very human. This did not bode well.

* * *

Ferrum took care to pay attention to the landscape below him as he flew away from the quickly diminishing cliffs. Keeping his eyes peeled for any glimpse of red and white he could find. Putting off his desire to find Crimson until he landed, he started to employ what her thought would be a sufficient landing strategy; the only problem is it would use up quite a bit of his wind and ice dust. Gathering his aura he used his wind dust to cast a small cushion of air beneath him to slow himself. Before he reached the ground he cast his ice dust out to create a small ramp of ice allowing him to slide to the forest floor. The boy forgot to take into account the fact that the ice wouldn't slow him down, only change the direction he was going, launching him off the slide and tumbling through the underbrush.

Groaning while he stood up, he quickly brushed off his rust colored robes.

 _May as well head for the temple while I keep an eye out for Crimson._

Ferrum took off at a jog in the direction he remembered seeing the dilapidated stone structure while he was still in the air.

"Crimson!" He called while running, trying to give himself the best chance as possible to find the cloaked girl.

 _Who else wouldn't I mind be partnered with? That Rain chick I met last night seemed pretty capable and outgoing, but she didn't want anything to do with me. There was also that small ferret girl, she was kind of cute too. Though she seems like she would be too small to be useful in a fight. I guess worse comes to worse I could partner with one of my combat school friends, but what fun would that be?_

A deep growl snapped him out of his thoughts. It seemed odd, it wasn't animal enough to be a grimm. Before he could figure it would, an ursa went flying past him, smashing into a tree. Looking in the direction the creature had come from, he saw the tall boy who had helped Crimson the night prior. The other boy looked to be almost seven feet tall and was covered in plate armor. Hefting a giant tower shield in his left hand and holding a large sword in his right, he gave a slight bow to Ferrum.

"My name is Thyme Wojtek, it's a pleasure to meet my partner for the next four years."

 _Why couldn't I have run into a girl first?_

* * *

The woods are normally quiet and peaceful. Except for once a year when that green maniac who lived in the tower up on the cliffs decided to launch a horde of children deep into the heart of the forest to seek some small trinket. Several blurs went flying overhead but none of them were the desired entity. Finally, after a few minutes, a lone student flew over head covered in black, red, and white garb, a red and white cloak billowing out behind her. Noting the direction the girl went flying in, the watcher took off after her.

The forest was easy to navigate. While the underbrush concealed sight lines, it did not do too much to muffle sounds. The target's footsteps were relatively noiseless to most people but, to those with enhanced hearing, they were as audible as a gun's report. The tracker slipped past a young beowolf laying on the ground, evaporating into the cool morning air. It's prey was closing on the final destination so action needed to be taken immediately. Moving too quickly, the predator disrupted the wildlife around it. Sensing the danger, all the wildlife silenced itself as to not draw attention. The white and red girl paused just as the hunter got within a few feet, but before the girl could turn around it pounced.

* * *

Ruby finally managed to twist around in her captor's arms. A surprise awaited the cloaked girl. Staring back at her was a familiar visage of freckles, green eyes, and orange hair topped off with a lopsided pink bow.

"Ruby, my friend!" The android blurted out with her normal measure of enthusiasm.

"Penny!" Ruby managed to squeak back through the crushing hug that she was receiving from her friend.

To her chagrin the perky redhead started to rock back and forth while still hugging her. Desperately she tapped the shorter girl's arms. "Need… air…"

After the chipper newcomer release her and she was able to get in a few deep breaths of air Ruby addressed her friend again.

"What are you doing here, Penny?"

"I wanted to study at Beacon, so Professor Ozpin said I had to come here for initiation." Penny smiled at her friend. "I'm so happy I found you first!"

"But…" Ruby tried to look for an avenue of escape.

It was probably too late though. As she found out during her own initiation, there are cameras dotted throughout the forest, providing ample video coverage to keep track of all the students. Other students also claimed there were huntsmen and huntresses hidden throughout the forest just in case something bad happened. Ruby doubted this, as her team, combined with JNPR, had to fight off a deathstalker and a giant nevermore during their initiation. Would Ozpin actually allow initiates to die in the forest on their first day at school?

"Weren't you here last year?" Ruby continued.

"Yes!" Penny responded eagerly. "But I was with Jaune's team until Pyrrha recovered. Ozpin said I get to be part of a new team if I do the initiation!"

"Fine…" The reaper muttered dismally. There would be no getting out of this. "Let's go get our relic."

"This is sensational!"

The pair started to trudge in the direction of the temple. It didn't take them very long to get there as Ruby knew where it was now, and she wasn't having to try to cooperate with a difficult teammate. As they neared the temple they heard a commotion in front of them, it sounded like some fellow students were engaging some grimm. With a simple glance exchanged between the two of them, they quickened their pace. Bursting through the last layer of underbrush, Ruby surveyed the scene in front of her.

Standing in the middle of the small clearing was Rain, leaning casually on the haft of a large axe. The rainbow-haired girl was surrounded by half a dozen evaporating beowolves that looked like they had been cleaved entirely in half. Following the other girl's gaze, Ruby saw that on the far side of the clearing there was one beowolf, the alpha, left standing. It was being confronted by the small black and white haired ferret faunus she had seen the night before. Remembering that she had been called Sange by the really tall boy who had helped her get her bag last night, she watched in earnest. The small faunus appeared to be using some sort of whiplike weapon against the beowolf and, while the girl looked skilled with the weapon, it seemed to be having little effect against the alpha.

"Would you like help, dear?" Rain inquired to the shorter girl.

"No." Sange growled back.

The whip then retracted, forming a coil attached to its owner's wrist. The faunus took a moment to aim before firing a dust slug at the beowolf. The slug only seemed to stun the beowolf on contact, knocking it backwards at the same time. Capitalizing on her opening, Sange pulled a knife off of her belt and charged the temporarily incapacitated creature. The unfortunate faunus only got a few feet before her boots caught on a tree root and she fell flat on her face.

"Oh, little one." Rain started sympathetically, making a move forward to help up her fallen partner, before noticing that the beowolf had recovered from the previous attack.

"Stay down, dear." The axe-wielder chuckled a bit as she spun her axe around as it unfolded into a large caliber cannon, before resting it on her shoulder and calling back to the observing duo. "And please mind the back."

Ruby had just enough time to notice a port open on the back of the weapon and managed to pull Penny out of the way as Rain fired her weapon. A large dust flare shot out of the front of the axe and tore the alpha beowolf to shreds. The weapon seemed to have very little recoil, and after a moment Ruby understood why. Out of the back end of the weapon a cone of pressure was released. It seemed very similar to the way archaic dust launchers used to work. It allowed a powerful shot to be fired without recoil, from a standing position, but the exhaust that came out from the back end made it dangerous to anything, or anyone, that was behind it.

After holstering her axe on her back, Rain stepped forward and helped her partner up off the ground. Once she had checked the small faunus over she turned to face the newcomers.

"Hey, Ru-Red!" She smiled warmly. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Penny!" Ruby said as she gestured to the redhead next to her.

"Salutations!" Penny stated joyously. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Rain responded with just as much energy. "And this little darling here is Lily Sange. Duelist extraordinaire from Atlas, but this is the first time she has fought a grimm."

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone!" The smaller girl pouted."I forgot I even told you."

"Already?" Rain sighed before continuing coyly, throwing a wink at Sange. "So, I take it I also am not supposed to tell them I had to rescue you from a tree too?"

Sange head drooped as she muttered a response. "I'm such a dunce. I couldn't even land correctly." Rain pulled the girl into a side hug and it seemed to help her recover.

"We should try to get on the same team together!" The faunus quipped to bring the conversation away from her.

"Oh, we should!" Penny exclaimed before hiccuping. Her eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth with her hands.

With that, the four of them set off toward the temple again. No more grimm stood in their way and they were able to trek the last half a mile to their destination in peace. When they arrived at the temple they saw two figures walk out of the ruins. A middle sized boy holding a staff and dressed in rust colored robes and a tall boy in plate armor and holding a tower shield.

"Hey Rusty, Little Guy." Rain yelled toward the pair walking towards them.

The pair glanced at them and closed the distance. When they were a short distance away Ruby recognized the shorter boy.

"Ferrum!" She exclaimed happily.

"Crimson!" Ferrum greeted her back, stepping forward for a hug.

"Rain!" The rainbow-haired girl joined in. Stepping in between them and slinging an arm over each of their shoulders.

It was at this moment that Ruby realized the height difference between her and Rain. Ruby and Ferrum were both about the same height at five foot, eight inches; Rain was easily a few inches taller than them and a lot more developed than Ruby herself.

"Oh, Rusty, have you met Skunk yet?" Rain addressed the dust caster, pointing her thumb at her teammate and the black and white streaked hair the girl possessed.

Continuing after he shook his head in confusion. "You guys should say hello to each other while I go grab a relic."

Penny likewise turned a headed towards the temple and followed Rain.

Ruby groaned inwardly, what was she going to do now?

"Penny." She hissed quietly to the android, knowing the girl would be able to hear her with the enhanced hearing that the young robot possessed. "Try to get the same relic as Rain."

If she was going to have to be screwed over, she may as well pick someone friendly to be teamed up with.

"Affirmative!" Penny exclaimed straightening up into a salute. Ruby tensed up and pounced for her friend; she knew what was coming next and slapped her hand over Penny's mouth. To her surprise the android didn't follow with the customary 'Ruby, my friend' but merely hiccuped gently into the palm of her hand.

The redheads actions left Ruby a little confused, but she brushed it off as Penny meandered into the temple as Rain was leaving it.

"Which did you grab, Rain?" Ruby asked.

"You didn't pay attention to Ozpin, did you?" Rain asked in response. Ruby quizzical look must have given the taller girl the answer she was looking for as she continued to speak. "Sorry, hun. Ozpin told us we weren't supposed to reveal our relics to anyone."

"Oh. W-" Ruby next words were cut off by the excitable brunet who apparently lost interest in talking to the ferret faunus and started call out glee.

"I recognize you now!"

Ruby felt a small rock form in her stomach. She tried to think of a way to explain herself to her new friend.

"You're Penny Polendina!" The boy pointed past Ruby and to the temple where Ruby's partner was returning from, his eyes shining with uncontained excitement.

"Indeed I am." She stated back.

The Ferrum skipped over to where Penny was and walked next to her very closely. The proximity didn't seem to bother the young android at all.

"Why are you here?" He inquired eagerly.

"I am here to learn how to save the world." She announced with even more energy than she displayed earlier.

"Aren't you a little old to be going through initiation?"

"I am younger than I look!" The android beamed back, seemingly satisfied with herself. "I technically won't be old enough to go to school here until next year. But they made an exception for me like my friend Ruby."

That response seemed to put a gleam in the boy's eye.

"Do you think you could introduce us sometime?" He asked expectantly.

"Affirmative." Penny replied simply before hiccuping again.

 _How does a robot get the hiccups?_

The six of them gathered up and headed back towards the cliffs where they were launched from. The lack of other initiates was surprising. Since all the students were coming from roughly the same location and had the same destination, Ruby figured they would have run into more people.

Idle chit-chat filled the air as they strode confidently through the forest. The first sign that something was up was when Sange and Thyme stiffened up and started to glance around worriedly.

"What's up?" Ruby inquired to the tall armored boy standing next to her.

"Grimm."

Ruby looked to Penny to see if she had detected something. The redhead was starting at a spot in a thick group of bushes. Ruby followed her gaze in time to see a creature of grimm burst through the underbrush. It looked like a giant predatory cat, with the typical grimm armor covering its face and body. The length of the spikes jutting out of its body told them that it was a younger grimm, but it was still a type they were unfamiliar with. Caution was necessary.

Ruby heard the transformation mechanisms of a weapon engage and saw Ferrum take a step forward, his staff held in a defensive posture. He attempted to take another step but Rain snagged the scruff of his robes with her hand.

"Hold up, Hero. Why don't we let the girl with experience handle this one." The tall girl nodded her head towards Penny. "You can show off your staff later." She ended with a giggle.

"She's got a point." Ruby added. "We'll learn more by watching its movements than charging in blind."

Ferrum seemed to get the message and back off reluctantly.

"Hold this!" Penny stated.

Ruby realized that the redhead was talking to her as she felt something be pressed into her hands; it was the relic that Penny had been holding. The small statuette was shaped like a King taijitu with one head low to the ground and the second held high as though it were poised to strike. The whole piece was covered in a reflective gold material. Slipping the relic into on of her pockets she watched as Penny stepped forward to attract the attention of the grimm, simultaneously ejecting half a dozen swords from her backpack.

While the grimm itself looked didn't look as dangerous as some of the beowolves they have fought before, but it was still a species they had never combatted in person. Since Cinder's attack on Beacon, new species of grimm have been found, and many species that hadn't lived in the woods before that event, moved in afterwards. The creature started to prowl in a circle, looking for point of attack. Seemingly sensing the weak link of the group, it focused in on the monochrome faunus and pounced. The girl stepped back into a combat stance and readied her knife to counter the attack, but the beast only met the unyielding shield of Thyme. Ruby had barely seen the boy move; one moment he was standing beside Ferrum and Rain and the next he was suddenly standing over the girl. He tried to rotate to continue tracking the beast, moving very slowly while the creature recovered. It seemed as though he was trying to move through an incredibly viscous fluid.

The boy's sudden lethargy made Ruby worried for his safety until a bright green flash of light erupted from the redhead standing next to her. When her eyes cleared, all the was left of the grimm was a scorch mark on the forest floor.

"That! Was! Awesome!" Ferrum squeed.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful, except for the lone beowolf they had run into. Ferrum, most likely trying to impress Penny, took it down with a flashy attack using fire dust. They weren't the first group of students back, but they had arrived before most of them.

 _So what is going to happen now? Would they let Penny join team RWBY? But what about the other people with the gold taijitu pieces?_

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the room filling up with students in various phases of exhaustion. Some of the were even sporting minor injuries. Ruby watched as Sange walked up to Thyme and tugged at his arm. The tall boy reached down to pick her up and place her on his shoulder so she could see over other tall students that had decided to stand right in front of her.

 _I guess that Penny could join the other two, but that would leave a first year team with three people. They wouldn't allow that. Though it isn't unheard of for upper class teams to only have three people due to injury or bad academics._

Her string of thought started to make her more anxious and she pulled her relic out of her pocket and began to fidget with it. What had started as a fun prank now left her feeling trapped. She looked up to the stage and say that Ozpin had already started announcing team assignments. One particular line caught her attention.

"...and the four having returned with gold king taijitu pieces…" Ozpin voice rang out through the speaker system

 _Well, this is where I find out who I am stuck with._

"...Ferrum Rovell…"

 _Crap._

"...Rain Loks…"

 _What?_

"...Lily Sange, and Thyme Wojtek. From this day forward you will be be working together as team FRST. Led by, Ferrum Rovell."

Ruby clapped politely as her new friends made their way up to the stage and listened to the rest of the teams be called out. Looking at the golden King Taijitu relic in her hand she was slightly confused, but decided that this outcome was preferable. Just a few things didn't make sense.

"Hey, Penny." Ruby leaned over to her. "Didn't you say that Ozpin would give you a first year team if you went through initiation?"

"Negatory!" She responded joyously. "Ozpin told me that if I participated in the initiation I would get to be part of a team instead of taking my studies independently for the next term."

"So you knew which Relic to grab?"

"No, Ru-v m frmm" Penny tried to finish with her normal phrasing, but Ruby and had managed to get her hand clamped over the other girl's mouth again. After a few moments she removed her hand cautiously to ensure the redhead didn't try to repeat herself.

"I had the relic with me the whole time!"

"Ohh… so this whole thing was a…" Ruby continued until a male voice interrupted.

"Set up?" Ozpin inquired from behind her, finishing her sentence.

Ruby jumped at hearing his voice in person and in such close proximity. While Ozpin still spoke in normal measured tone, Ruby hadn't realized he was done with the initiation speeches.

"Professor?" She turned to the elder man to address him properly despite her growing exasperation. "You helped plan this?"

"No." He chuckled slightly. "I did help facilitate it though, much to the dismay of Professor Goodwitch."

"What?" Ruby questioned, looking thoroughly discombobulated.

"Miss Rose, you were thrown into this school two years ahead of schedule." Ozpin elaborated in a calm tone. "You only have a short period of time to play the role of a child. I also am repaying a favor to one of your teammates."

"You owe Yang a favor?" Ruby asked suspiciously

Ozpin merely smiled slightly. Before motioning the hand holding his cane towards the relic in Ruby's hand.

"The thing about the King Taijitu, is that the head you see isn't always the one calling the shots." With that the man turned to address Penny. "Miss Polendina, if you would come with me to get your team assignment. As I mentioned previously, one of our fourth year teams had a member take a leave of absence for a term, you will be assisting them."

Ruby and Penny exchanged brief goodbyes before the cloaked girl watched the others stride off towards the waiting form of Ozpin's impatient assistant. As she sat pondering about how Glynda handled that man's mischievous ways, she felt another pair of figures approach her.

"Crimson." Ferrum's voice identified her friend before she could turn to face him. "What happened? Did you not get a team?"

As the girl finished turning around she saw Ferrum and Rain approach her.

"Hey, guys." She greeted them with a smile. "Where are your teammates?"

"Our poor little Skunk was all tuckered out by today's events." Rain offered with her normal gentle smile. "So the Little Guy went to the room with her. He said he had something he wanted to talk to her about, alone." Rain ended her sentence with a suggestive giggle that made the other two roll their eyes.

"Uh, yeah. Ferrum, I have something I need to tell you too." Ruby shifted uncomfortably in place. Her brief friendship with the boy had been built on deception, something she never enjoyed.

"Are you a man?!" Rain gasped with feigned surprised.

Ruby glared back at the other girl. Though the fact that Rain actually seemed to shrink back was probably due to the ice blue color her contacts gave her eyes rather than the scolding look on her still childish face. Looking to Ferrum she noticed the boy looked somewhat frazzled as well.

"It's nothing like that, I promise!" She yelped out, but the boy still seemed wary of whatever surprise Ruby had in store. "It would be easier if you came closer so I could show you."

Rain giggled again, eliciting a small growl from the shorter girl.

"Just, make eye contact with me." She instructed Ferrum. Once he was looking at her properly, she reached up and removed one of her contacts, revealing the silver coloration hidden beneath it.

"Wait.. but… that.. you're…" The boy sputtered incoherently.

"I think you broke him, Red." Rain quipped. "Yes, Rusty. The girl you've been creeping on the last two days is none other than Ruby Rose, your favorite huntress-in-training. Don't think I haven't seen the wallpaper on your scroll."

That snapped the boy out of it, for about half a second.

"Joking, she's obviously joking." Ferrum's face had turned a bright red color. "Uh, Cr-Ruby. Do you mind?"

"No?" Ruby said, not understanding what the boy was asking.

The boy jumped forward and latched Ruby into a tight hug. As he approached Ruby could have sworn she saw a tear glistening in one of his eyes, but when he pulled back they were dry.

"Can I have your autograph?"

Rain stepped over and grabbed the boy by the back of his collar and started to drag him towards the exit.

"Come on, Fan Boy. We need to get unpacked, you can get it later." Rain paused to briefly wave over her shoulder back to Ruby. "See you around, Red."

"Don't worry, Ferrum." Ruby called to the receding forms. "All team leaders have a mandatory leadership class they take together. I'll see you next week."

With a deep sigh and a smile on her face, she could now return to her room and her teammates. There was just one little matter left to settle with Yang. Ruby manage to make the trip across campus in a matter of a few minutes and used her scroll to open up the door, ready to yell at her sister. What she saw made her voice catch. Despite it being the late afternoon, Weiss was asleep on her bed, using Ruby's usual cloak as a blanket.

"Isn't that adorable, sis?" Yang's hushed voice met her ears. "She was so stressed that you didn't come back last night she couldn't sleep. She finally passed out like that a few hours ago."

Ruby felt her face heat up and scrambled to respond.

"Speaking of which." Yang continued. "Why did you stay the night, I thought you were going to get kicked out?"

"You're joking, right?!" Ruby tried to show her frustration with her sister without waking Weiss up. "I tried your suggestions, but Glynda caught me before I could start a food fight or do anything with that soccer ball!"

"Food fight, again?" Yang deadpanned. "That is rather uncreative."

Ruby finally turned to see Yang laying on her bed, propped up by her arm. Blake was reading while leaning against her headboard like normal.

"Hey, you're the one who suggested it." Ruby argued. "And I do not like that boy!"

"What gave you that idea?" Yang chided her sister. "I think you're projecting."

"What? I'm not projecting." Ruby protested "You left me that stupid note in that bag."

"Uh, what bag?"

"The one you left me in the great hall. The one you texted me the location of."

"Rubes, I don't know how to break this to you, but I lost my scroll yesterday when we were out spying on you. I haven't sent you any messages. I went down to the hall to check on you but Ozpin assured me you were doing ok and everything was fine."

"But Ozpin said…" Ruby's voice trailed off while she looked at the Taijitu relic in her hand again. "Blake."

Ruby turned her gaze to her faunus teammate who was was still staring at her book. The sound of someone speaking her name didn't elicit any sort of reaction from her. Ruby walked up to where Blake was sitting as Yang poked her head over the edge of her bunk bed. The younger girl prodded her teammate in the shoulder just to watch as Blake dissipated into a cloud of dust.

"Ruby, I think Blake owes you those cookies, not me."

* * *

 **Blake! How could you!?**

 **Anyways, the shenanigans continue in How to Cheer up a Thunderstorm. The kinda of sequel that was written first.**

 **Thanks to XenonRaumzeit for editing this.**

 **Any critiques people want to send me via review or PM would make me happy.**

 **You reviewers who get shoutouts.**

 **Guest: Sal - Thanks!**

 **Curious Viewer - The intention was to bring more first year OCs into this, hope it met your needs. Ferrum was originally supposed to be the only first year of note. But, I had to bring others in, because reasons.**

 **RedNephilim - Oh, she isn't on a new team. :( Who would you rather have her stuck with Rain or Ferrum?**

 **ODST110 - _Even if you know how the story ends, that doesn't make it any less fun to watch._ ~ Cinder Fall  
I conceived and wrote the idea for Thunderstorm/Cookie Heist before this story. We all like "Origin" stories even though we know the outcome, right? I hope you still enjoyed the delayed prequel.**

 **Zelindsay - c3 (Was supposed to be a heart, but Fanfiction doesn't like 'less than' symbols)**


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